Mixture control for internal-combustion engines



June 30, 1925. G. R. slssoN I MIXTURE CONTROL FOR INTERNAL coMBu sTIo N ENGINES Filed 001;. 29, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 "III/III! 'IIIIIIIIII INVENTOR. 6'1 l/V/F. 5/85 0N,

' AT ORNEY.

June 30, 1925.

I G. R. SISSON MIXTURE CONTROL FOR INTERNAL coMBusTIoN mamas INVENTOR- 62 f/V EJ735010;

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A RNEY.

June 30, 1925.

G. R. SISSON MIXTURE CONTROL FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Oct. 29. 1923 3 SheetsSheet :5

* I//// I II/ INVENTOR. Gimvij/ssou @ZRNEY.

ll v' out requiring special Patented 1..... 0, 192s.

,umrso STATES PAT T- OFFICE.

ems. eraser, or rmmon, nmxaiu. mrunn comaor. ro'a mmman-conausnon aromas Application fled ombuas, 19 88. Serial in. 671,512.

To all whom it may comm:

Be it. known that I, GLEN R. Srssoma citizen of the United States, residing at Pendleton, in' the county of Madison and State of Indiana have invented a new-and useful Mixture ontrol for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide an automatic control for the mixture supplied to internal combustion engines, and to carbureters, for automatically regulating relatively to each other the air-supply.and the fuel-suppl especially during starting and warming up, and for compensation for temperature variations both in the air and in the engine, so that a sufiicient mixture under all conditions ma be obtained withill on the part of the operator.

In the operation of automobiles, many drivers have difliculty especially in and just after starting, an most pronouncedly 1n cold weather, in getting the right mixture. They may fail to start byhaving too much fuel in proportion to the air. They may fail to start by having too much air in proportion to the fuel. They may kill their engines immediately after starting, b providing too much air or too little fuel in proportion to the air, especially in cold weather and with a cold engine. Even if they do succeed in getting the engine started and kee ing it running, they are apt to have unsatisfactory operation by reason of too rich a mixture, on account of having too little air for a given amount of fuel or too much fuel for. a given amount of air.

In accordance with my invention, I control the relation ofthe ply of air and fuel from the carburetor ointly by three conditions: The temperature of the engine, the temperature of the air, and the condition of the circuit of the starter motor for the.

engine; butmy invention in some of its aspects requires control by only one or two of these conditions. which is automaticall the supply of fuel re I provide a device actuated to increase I of air for the carburetor while the circuit of the starter motor is closed, and to decrease the supply of fuel relatively tothe supply of air when the starter-motor circuit -1sopen. Iimposeuponthiscontrolbythe starter-motor circuit, asecond control by in proportion to t e fuel my invention:

line. 33 of Fig. 2; tional view of a carbureter,

atively to the supply invention apglled thereto, with changes in the temperature of the engine 7 by relatively increasing the air su ply with relation to the fuelsupply as the engine warms up and decreasin it as the engine cools down. This contrnfi bytemperature, or more specifically by engine temperature, and starter-motor circuit jointly isthe subect-matter of my co Serial No. 634,576, file April 25, 1923, but with the control acting through the control of the air, instead of bein directed broadly as inthe present case to t e relative control of fuel and plication, Serial No. 651,871, filed July 16, 1923, there is presentedanother specific invention coming within the scope of the present broad invention; in such prior application the subject being a control of the mixture by three conditions-married abovebut with the control there directed to air control only,-instead of'control of the relative values of air and fuel.

nding application air. In another co-pending ap- In contradistinction to the limitations of i such two prior applications, m present invention is directed broadly to t e automatic control of the relation between the air supply and the fuel supply, whether or not that control is exerted through control "of one or the other, or through the control of both. In its more specific as ect, my present ,invention is directed to t e automatic control of the fuel supply to get this control of the relative amount of fuel and air. My invention conte'm lat'es the control automatically by all t ree conditions, or by less than all three of those conditions, as expr'csly set forth in the claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates Fig. 1 is aside elevation of an automobile equipped with one form of my invention, with the automatic control on the supply for a supplemental feeding nozzle; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the carburetor and control apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a f ental section on the ig. 4 is another sec of the auxiliary air t with my control applied to the main lel nozzle; and Fig. 5 is still another sectional. view of a carbureter, of the plain tube type, with my controlon the main fuel nozzle; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of still another h chok l p d rt control on t e or va ve an on a sl'ipplemental fualjet; Fig. 7 is a frigmmtal pe of carbureter, showing ally view showing a modification of Fig. 6 in which the control on the choker valve is transferred to a fuel-controlling member; and Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of The engine 10 is supplied with explosive mixture by an suitable carbureter 11, different types 0 carbureters being shown in different figures. Any of these carbureters which is used supplies such explosive mix ture to the engine through any suflicient intake manifold 12; and the exhaust ases from the engine are discharged throug an exhaust manifold 13 in the usual way. In all the forms of carbureters that are shown, air is supplied through an air inlet opening 15, and directed through a suitable Venturi 16, and thence on by way of the discharge opening 17 past a throttle 18 to the intake manifold 12, this air being either the only air supplied as in Figs. 5 and 6, or being supplemented by an auxiliary air-Suppl through a lateral air-inlet passage 19 whic supplies the outlet assage 17 in parallel to the supply throng the Venturi tube 16. When there is an auxiliary air supply, it may be controlled by a valve 20, shown as a spring-seated valve in Fig. 4. If desired, theremay be a choker valve 21 in n air inlet passage, as the valve 21 is shown located in the main air inlet passa 19 in Fig. 6. In addition .to the air supp y or air supplies, there is a main fuel supply within the Venturi tube 16, in any suitable-manner, as by a fuel nozzle 22 projecting'along I such Venturi tube, as shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, or by lateral fuel inlets 23 through the throat of the Venturi tube as shown in Fig. 6. The fuel supply at the throat of the Venturi tube 16 may be either the only fuel supply, or may be supplemented by an auxiliary fuel supply, as b a supplemental passage 24, as illustrate in Figs. 2 and 6. In both of those instances, the supplemental passage 24 is shown as feeding fuel up to a lateral feed opening entering the main passage in the vicinity of the throttle 18. The fuel supply is ordinarily taken from a float bowl 25.

I have shownthese various types of carbureters merely as examples, to indicate some of the types of carbureters in common use; for my invention is applicable to any style of carburet'er, and is not limited to those types which are shown.

N ow referring specifically to the arrangement shownin Figs. 1, 2, and 3: The main nozzle 22 is suplplied from the float bowl 25, and is contro ed by a manual adjusting screw 30, in any convenient way. The float bowl also supplies fuel to a passa e 31, in which there is-a check valve 32 w 'ch rmits passage of fuel only from the oat bowl 25; and this passage 31 feeds both a supplemental reservoir 33 and the auxiliary is arranged to be 0 'ing the starting operation.

fuel suppl passage'24. The so plemental fuelcham r 23 is provided wit a piston 34 which is spring pressed upward by a spring 35, but which may be pulled downward by a solenoid 36. The solenoid 36 is connected in a branch circuit 37'from the main starter circuit 38, so that when the starter switch 39 is depressed in the regular way in starting the engine a circuit is completed from the battery 40 through such starter'switch 39 and the circuit 38 to the starter motor 41, with a branch leading through the branch circuit 37 and solenoid 36 so that the solenoid will be energized upon the energization of the starter motor. In the branch circuit 37, however,'I provide a thermostatically operated switch 42, which rated by a thermostat 43 suitably mounte to be responsive to the temperature of the engine,-. as by being mounted on the exhaust manifold 13. When the engine is cold, or below a certain temperature, the thermostat 43 pulls the switch 42 closed, so that the solenoid 36 will be energized simultaneously with the starter motor 41 upon the closing of the starter switch 39. When the engine becomes heated, however, and rises beyond a certain temperature, the thermostat 43 operates to open the switch 42; so that .under such conditions, which will occur if there is a starting soon after a stopping of the en ine, the closing of the starter switch 39 pro uces no effect on the solenoid 36.

The engine being below the predetermined temperature, the closing of the starter switch 39 to energize the starter motor 41 causes the solenoid 36 to act to depress the plunger 34. This forces fuel out of the supplemental fuel chamber 35, through t e auxiliary fuel passage 24, and into the mixture chamber of the carbureter, to cause an increase in the amount of fuel with relation to the amount of air over what it would otherwise be. The stem of the piston 34 is connected to a dash'pot 44 so that the descent of such piston will be retarded and will continue over a considerable period, so that this supply of fuel may continue dur- This enrichment of the mixture facilitates starting, especially when the engine is cold; while when the engine is hot such enrichment does not occur because the switch 42 is open.

The outlet ofthe auxiliary fuel passage 24 is controlled by a screw 45.v This screw which is responsive to the temperature of lac -stat 50 moves the screw-earner 46 to in- .reter; while w crease the size of the opening of the auxiliary fuel su ply assage into the carbuhen t e air is hot it decreases the size of such opening.

Thus b the two thermostats 43 and 50, and by t e solenoid 36 controlled by the starter switch 39, I, provide all three controls mentioned: control by the starter motor, control by engine tem rature, and con-' trol by air temperature. hese actuall act on the fuel supply, in this case the auxi 'ary fuel supply, to control the proportions of the mixture, by increasing the amount'of fuel with relation to the amount of air upon theclosing of the starter motor circuit, provided the engine is cold, and by controlling the amount of such enrichment by the temperature of the air acting through the thermostat 50. Y

Thearrangement shown in Fi 4 operates on the same general princip es as applied to a different form of car ureter, Here there is-only one fuel nozzle shown,

the nozzle 22, and it is controlled by a controlling needle 55, .which is connected by a lever 56 to the spring-seated valve 20 which controls the admission of auxiliary air. The lever 56 is mounted on eccentric pins 57 carried by a shaft 58 which outside of the carbureter has an operating arm 59. In the normal operation of the carbureter, the needle 55 which controls the size of the fuel-supply, moves up and down as the auxiliary a r valve 20 is moved down and up, so that the size of the fuel supply varies with the size of the auxiliary air opening. To obtain my control, I operate t roug the arm, .to vary the position of the needle. 55 for a given position of the auxiliary air valve '20. To this end,'.the arm 59 is connected. by a rod 60 to the core of the solenoid 36, which solenoid is connected in the same way as isthe solenoid36 in the arran men't shown in Fig. 2. In other words, solenoid 36 is controlled primarily'by the starter switch 39, and is connected in shunt to .the starter motor 41, and in its branch CiIGIIlhLthGI'B is a switch 42 which ,is controlled by a; thermostat 43 resvp'onsive to the temperature hen the starter switch 39' of the engine. 1s dep, to cause the operation. of the starter motor 41,- it also causes the'energization of the solenoid 36, to swing thearm' 59 to the'right to raise the pivot pin 57 on whichthe lever 56 is mounted; which raises the needle 55 to admit -more fuel into the stream of air wlxij ows through the Venturi 16. When th switch 39 is released, the solenoidl36 rel. its.

and the pivot pin- .57 are back [mor to its normalposition. e amount by wh ch back, however, is controlled by the temperature of the air, act

ing through the air-responsive thermostat 50. In this instance, the aim responsive thermostat 50 is connected to a cam .61

which co-operates with a stop 62 on the,

stem 60 to limit the movement of such stem and of the arm 59 to the left. This thermostat 50 and cam 61 are so arranged that as the air temperature increases they permit a greater movement of the rod 60 and arm 59 toward the left, to increase the distimes the needle 55 may descend upon the deenergization of the solenoid 36. This provides an automatic temperature control of fuel with relation to the air, in response to the temperature of the air.

In addition, as before, if the engine is warm when the starter switch 39 is closed,

the switch 42 is held open by the enginetemperature-responsive thermostat "43, so

that no energization of the solenoid 36 then occurs.

The arrangement shown in Fi 5 is a very similar arrangement, in w ich the triple control referred to is provided on the main fuel-controllin needle. Here, however, the carbureter s own is an ordinary iary air. The fuel outlet into, the air s ace is controlled by a needle valve 65, w- 'ch is a. direct extension of the rod 66 which carries the core of the solenoid 36., The needle is spring-pressed u wardly, butis pulled downward by the so enoid 36. This in the arrangement already described, 1m der' the control of the starter switch 39 and plain-tube carbureter, with no auxilsolenoid is energized in the same way as of the engine-temperature-responsive thermostat 43; the upward fuel decreasing movement of the needle 65 is controlled by a cam 61 governed by an air-temperatureresponsive thermostat -50 to limit the fueldecreasing movement of the needle 65 when the solenoid 36'is de-energized. I

In the device shown in Fig. 6, there is a somewhat different arra ment. Here the fuel-needle 70 controls .t e supply of fuel from the float bowl 25 into a, assage 71. from which both the main fuel-i scharging openings 23 and a supplemental fuel passa e 72am supplied. The outlet of the supp emental fuel passe 72 is thro l; 0 in 73 and 74 in the iiainity of 1%? though the exact location of these' -':i's not essential to my present invention; (One of the. outlets73 maybe controlled by an adjusting screw 75 if desired. The fuel-controlling needle 70 is spring-pressed downward toward closed position by a spring 76, aiid maybe manually adjusted by an abutment nut 77 which separably rests on a sleeve 78 through which the needle 70 is slidable. The sleeve 78g s eparably rests on the top of a aching-gland nut 79. By tuming-the nut 7, theneedle 70maybe or lowered with relation to its seat. The sleeve is provided with rack teeth which mesh with a pinion 80, rovided with an operating arm connected y a link 81 connected to an operatin arm on a choker valve 21 which is provided in the air'inlet opening 15. The choker valve 21 is springpressed to wide-open position, by a spring 82, which, acting through the link 81 and pinion 80, tends to bring the sleeve 78 into contact with the packing-gland nut 79 to lower the needle 70 into proximity to its seat. The choker valve 21 has another operating arm 83, which is connected by a rod 84 to the core of the solenoid 36, which is connected as before in shunt to the starter motor 41 so that it will be controlled jointly therewith by the starter switch 39. Thus by depressing the starter switch 39 for causing operation of the starter motor 41, the solenoid 36 is energized; and this serves to move the choker valve 21 toward or to closed posi tion, and alsoserves to raise the sleeve 78 so that the fuel-controlling needle 70 will be lifted from its seat to increase the supply of fuel. Thus with this arrangement, theoperation of the starting motor 41 serves both to decrease the supply of air absolutely and to increase the supply of fuel absolutely, as well as to increase the supply of fuel with relation to the supply of air. When the starter switch 39 is released, the spring 82 moves the choker valve 21 and the sleeve 78 back to the normal position, in which theyare shown, thus increasing the supply of air, and decreasing the supply of fuel. The extent to which the closlng movement of the choker valve 21 and the raising of the sleeve 78 takes place, however, is controlled by the cam 61 which limits the movement of the core of the solenoid 36 and is controlled by the thermostat 50 which is responsive to the temperature of the air. The cooler the air, the farther the cam 61 permits the closing of the choker valve 21 and the opening of the needle valve 70. In addition to this control of the needle valve 70, it is also controlled by the thermostat 43 which is responsive to the temperature of the en e. To this end, such thermostat 43 is provided at its free end with an abutment screw 85, upon which may rest a lateral finger or head 86 projecting from the upperend of the needle 70. When the en 'ne is cold, the thermostat 43 lifts the nee e 70 to allow more fuel to pass, causin the nut 77' to be separated from the sleeve 8. As the engine becomes hot, the thermostat 43 lets the needle 70 lower, until the nut 77 e the sleeve 78.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 6 may be slightly modified as shown in Fi 7 and 8. Here all the controls are provi ed on the adjusting screw which controls the'outlet from the supplemental fuel-supply passage 72. In this modification, the screw 75 is provided with an operating arm 90, which is loosely mounted on such screw, and the two are interconnected by the thermostat 43 which is responsive to the temperature of the engine. For a given position of the arm 90, the thermostat 43 backs off the screw 75 as the engine cools, and screws it in as the engine gets hot. The operating arm 90 is connected by a rod 91 to the core of the solenoid 36, and is spring-pressed in the direction to seat the adjusting screw 75, by a spring 92. When the solenoid 36 is energized, upon the closing of the starter motor, the arm 90 is swung in the direction to back off the adjusting screw 75, to let more fuel pass out through the fuel-supply openin 73. When the solenoid 36 is de-energize the reverse action occurs, and the spring 92 moves the arm 90 to turn the screw 75 farther inward toward its seat, and thus to lessen the supply of fuel. As before, this returning movement or fuel-decreasing movement of the core of the solenoid 36 is limited by a cam 61 operated by the thermostat 50 which is responsive to the temperature of the air.

My invention may take various other forms, and those which I have illustrated are merely examples, to show the wide range of applicability of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mixture-enriching device for carbureters, comprising electro-magnetic means for varying the fuel-discharge in the carbureter, a starter motor and its control switch,

connections to said electro-magnetic means to energize and de-energize it jointly with said starter motor upon the closing and opening of the starter-motor switch, and a thermostat also controlling said rate of fueldischarge in the carburetor. 1

2. A mixture-enri hing device for carburefers,- oomprising electro-magnetic means for varying the fuel-discharge in the carbureter, a starter motor and its control switch,

connections to said electro-magnetic means to energize and de-energize it jointly with said starter motor upon the closing and opening of the starter-motor switch, and a thermostat responsive to the temperature of the air and also controlling said rate of fueldischarge in the carbureter.

3. A mixture-enriching device for carbureters, comprising electro-magnetic means for varying the fuel-discharge in the carbureter, a starter motor and its control switch, connections to said electro-magnetic means to energize and de-energize it jointly with said starter motor upon the closing and opening of the starter-motor switch, and a thermostat res nsive to the temperature of the engine an also controlling said rate of fuel-discharge in the carbureter.

4. A mixture-enriching device for carbunun see reters, comprising electro-ma etic means for varying the fuel-discharge m'the carbu- .two thermostats resplonsive respectively to the temperature of t e air and to the temrature of the engine for controlling said uel-discharge-varyin means.

-6. A mixture-enric ing device for carbureters, comprising a starter device, means controlled ointly with said starter device for varying the rate of fuel-discharge in the carbureter, and a thermostat which also controls the rate of fuel-discharge in the" carbureter.

7. A mixture-enriching device for carbureters', comprising a starter device, means controlled ointly with said. starter device for varying the rate of fuel-discharge in the carbureter, and a thermostat which controls the extent to which said fuel-dischargvarying means varies the rate of fuelcharge when the. operation of the starter device ceases. 4

8. A mixture-enriching device for carbureters, comprising a starter device, means rendered operativejointly with the starter device for vvarying the proportion between the fuel-discharge in the carburetorand the air-flow through the carbureten'aind a ther-' mostat which also controls such-pro rtion.

9. A device or carbureters comprising 'a starter device, means rendered operative jointly with the 'start or device for varying the pro rtion between the fuel-discharge in the car ureter and, the

osfi iiih th m tw 'c isresponsiveto etenipera ture of the air and which also controls such 1o. animal-Human; device for mcombustion engine wi h the carburetor, and a then,

hunter:i a started device, means iv render operativejointly with the starter device for varying the pro ortion between the fuel-dischar in the car ureter and the air-flow throng the carburetor, and a thermostat which is responsive to the temperature of the engine and which also controls such proportion.

11. A mixture-enriching device for carbureters comprising a starter device, means rendered device for varyingthe proportion between the fuel-dischar e in the carburetor and the air-flow throu E the carburetor, and two thermostats -w ich are responsive to the temperature of the air and to the't'emperature-jof the engine respectively and both of which also control such 'PIOPOltlOD.

" 12. In combination, an mternal combustion engine, a starter device therefor, means for supplying said internal combustion en'- gine with a mixture of air and fuel, a thermostat, responsive to the temperature of the engine, and means controlled by the operation of said starter device'and by sa d thermostatfor varying the proportions of air and fuel in said mixture.

13. In combination, an internal combus tion engine, a starter device therefor, means operative jointly with the starter for supplying said internal combustion engine with a mixture of airand fuel, two t ermostats responsive respectively to the temperature of the'air and to the temperature of the engine, and means controlled by the operation of said starter device and by said two thermostats for varying the proportions of air and fuel insaid mixture.

14. In combination, an internal combustion engine, means for en plying said internal a mixture of air and fuel, two thermostats responsive v 'vely to thetemperature of the air an to the tem rature of the engine, and means contro edby said two thermostats for varying the proportions of air and fuel in said mix -ture. Y 

